Spirit Rising or Briellen McAlpine... it's all yoga & healing.

Yep - I am changing my business name from Spirit Rising Yoga to Briellen McAlpine Yoga.

Simple. Clear. Me. For you.

As for Spirit Rising- we had a good 10 years together, but.....I have grown; you where perfect in 2006, and now its time for something else.

Spirit Rising?? It feels a bit lofty now, a bit fluffy, and well, just not right anymore.

When does the spirit rise in us anyway???

After 30 years of intense yoga?? or 108,000,000 recitations of a mantra??

During a wild experience aided by some kind of substance that is usually illegal somewhere???

Well it could - but I would hypothesize that it will only happen if that practice or event brings you more in alignment with your 'true' or 'inner' self... the self, the 'you' that exists beyond the labels, habits, hopes and fears.

And if truth be told, a 'spiritual practice' can be as good a tool for escaping ourselves and hiding out as a case of beer on a Friday night (or a slab if that makes more sense to you - remember, I was born and raised in NSW where it's a 'case' - please don't hold it against me!).

Some of you might remember, especially if you came to one of my beginners courses, the circumstances of what remains one of my clearest 'experiences' (you can call it spiritual if you like):

Hong Kong, 1996. I was living in a 12th floor apartment, and on this morning I was cleaning, which included dusting my fax machine (1996, remember).

Sure, HK was/is a dusty place, but that is not why the next thing happened.

In the midst of dusting that fax machine I dropped into the most sublime state of simple bliss.

I didn't receive all the answers to the mysteries of the universe and I was not suddenly cognisant of all my past and future lives, my purpose on this planet, awesome plans for world peace, alien takeovers or anything else...

I was purely and simply at ease.

Complete blissful ease, a kind of contentment where for those few brief moments I needed nothing more.

Then I thought "Oh, this is how those Indian guys stand in place for years."

And then I was aware that I was thinking. The moment was over. I finished dusting the fax.

I did quickly get myself attuned to reiki, and dove deep into reading all the spiritual books I could get my hands on, and a couple of years later I started yoga. All the while trying to understand and repeat that experience.

There have been other experiences, but nothing as sweet as the first one, because that particular sweetness can't be repeated.

You can't repeat an experience any more than you can relive a moment. Simply because you have already been through it, so your awareness is different, and even if everything else is exactly the same, your experience wont be. It can't be.

Even when we engage in 'the practices' - yoga, meditation etc - they are most importantly about clearing the way and preparing ourselves for the letting go - self realization.

It's all at best preparation for the moment when we are ready to drop our egos/ persona and experience the moment as it actually is.

If we take the view of Advaita (a non-dualist branch of the Vedic traditions), then a moment like that happens at the moment it is going to happen, regardless of anything we may or may not do.

And the things we learn, as we strive for different states, well, hopefully they are useful tools that help us to live our daily lives a little better. With a little more ease and clarity.

So, with all that said, lets keep it simple.

Through my business, I offer you practices and tools that aim tosupport you to live as well as you can, to meet the demands of your life, and cultivate the things that have meaning - that are sacred - to you. This is what I look for in my own life and practice.

In my business and offerings that means using my birth name. Keep it simple. On point, real.